Concept and essence of Bank Kiosks

What is a Kiosk?

A Kiosk is basically a small cabin or cubicle structure comparable to a telephone booth. Traditionally, we find a Kiosk where small vendors sell newspapers, refreshments, cold drinks, etc. Over the years, the concept of Kiosk is significantly changed. The modern-day Kiosks are provided with the computer and display in aesthetically designed structures. Modern-day Kiosks are commonly sighted at banks, airports, railway stations, supermarkets, malls, bills payment centers, etc. These Kiosks are useful for transactions, information, advertising, endorsement, and so on.

The essence of Bank Kiosks :

Bank Kiosks are essentially operational with security settings. Bank customers can log on to the computer-based touch screen with their user id and password and independently view their account or do banking transactions including the deposit of cheques, cash to the credit of their account, and printing transactions in the passbooks. A good number of ‘Bank Kiosks’ are provided with ATM wherein bank customers can draw cash at any point of time, at their convenience.

Bank kiosks for boosting financial inclusion:

In India, Bank kiosk is primarily introduced by the Reserve Bank of India as an important concept for boosting financial inclusion, particularly in rural areas. The financial inclusion means enabling the weaker sections of the society or low-income groups to access financial services and avail the credit at a low or affordable cost.  With the introduction of Bank Kiosks, people from rural areas that are deprived of ‘banking facility’ hitherto now do not have to actually visit the far-off situated bank branch in order to do a variety of banking transactions such as deposits, withdrawals, remittances apart from the micro-credit, insurance, and overdraft services.

How No-frill account is opened through Bank Kiosks?

Bank kiosks are functioning through the support of shops in the locality. The bank account of a specific bank can be opened through a shopkeeper/business correspondent, who can open a no-frills bank account for a customer by taking the photographs and recording the fingerprints and other necessary details of the customer. The requisite details with the documents received by the retailer will be sent to the bank branch to carry out their processing. Once the account is created, the customer can withdraw or deposit money anytime through the internet-enabled kiosk branch.

Advantage of no-frill accounts;

• The minimum balance is zero maximum balance can be Rs.50000. (Balances above this can be held, but then the account is converted to a regular bank account and the terms of the bank and documentations will apply to these accounts). No charges levied for not maintaining a minimum balance.
• The maximum limit of transactions is Rs10, 000/- per day. No Cheque book is issued.
• Only Cash Transactions can be made & only in person by the account holder.
• There is no signature required and only an electronic thumb impression is used to access/use the account.
• Customers can do banking transactions as long as the shop is opened.

As per RBI guidelines “the distance between the place of business of a business correspondent and the base branch, ordinarily, should not exceed 15 km in rural, semi-urban and urban areas. In metropolitan centers, the distance could be up to 5 km”.